The Awakening Array activated, and golden light enveloped Yu Xiaogang.
A dragon's roar rang through the hall. A giant dragon seemed to loom behind him, and every Soul Master present with a Beast Martial Soul—even those with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul—felt a faint pressure bearing down on them.
"This is..." Yu Luomian said in astonishment.
"Could it be?" Yu Luotang murmured, startled.
Yu Yuanzhen sprang to his feet. He realized what was happening before the other clan elders did.
Below the platform, Yu Xiaomen watched the dragon's shadow behind Yu Xiaogang grow steadily more solid. The joy he had felt at awakening a top-tier talent vanished.
Ha... Hahahaha...
I can feel it. It's a dragon—the Golden Sacred Dragon. It's about to emerge...
Yu Xiaogang's heart surged with excitement. He raised his head and opened his eyes. Golden dragons seemed to soar through them.
My Martial Soul, the Golden Sacred Dragon! Hahaha! My Martial Soul is the Golden Sacred Dragon...
From today on, I'll be only the second Soul Master in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's recorded history to possess the Golden Sacred Dragon Martial Soul. My legend begins now. Ten thousand years from now, the whole continent will still praise the name of Yu Xiaogang, the Dragon God Douluo.
The wonderful sensation made Yu Xiaogang close his eyes again and immerse himself in the joy of Spirit Awakening.
Then something went wrong. An ordinary Martial Soul would take form at once, but the dragon's phantom remained insubstantial, unable to fully coalesce.
Everyone froze, staring wide-eyed. Yu Xiaogang sensed something was wrong too. He opened his eyes and looked at the Golden Sacred Dragon behind him, unable to understand what was happening.
Suddenly, the dragon's phantom let out a mournful cry and began to leak away.
"My Golden Sacred Dragon! My Golden Sacred Dragon! No—" Yu Xiaogang clawed desperately at its dissolving form.
"Wh-what's happening?" a clan disciple asked.
"This is bad. His Martial Soul is mutating," Yu Yuanzhen said.
Everyone's heart sank. Martial Soul Mutation could be good or bad, but if Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul was the Golden Sacred Dragon, there was only one possible outcome: a mutation for the worse. After all, no Beast Martial Soul known to humanity ranked higher than the Golden Sacred Dragon.
Hearing that, Yu Xiaogang panicked. He cried out in despair, "No! My Golden Sacred Dragon, don't leave me! How am I supposed to live without you...?"
In the end, the Golden Sacred Dragon dissolved. The Martial Soul left in its place was purple, fat, and hideously ugly. It looked like a dog, but it was as fat as a pig.
The little creature formed a faint bond with Yu Xiaogang the moment it appeared. It waddled up and rubbed affectionately against his trouser leg, oinking, "Oink, oink, oink."
Yu Xiaogang lowered his head, hiding his expression.
The hall fell silent. Only the little creature's oinks could be heard.
Yu Xiaogang was still the sect leader's son, and Yu Yuanzhen's authority still held sway. No one dared openly discuss his Martial Soul, but the scrutinizing looks they cast at him made his skin crawl.
"Let's..." Yu Yuanzhen broke the silence. "Let's test his Innate Soul Power first. You can't judge a Martial Soul's strength by its appearance." He felt his son might still be worth salvaging.
Yu Xiaogang's head snapped up. "Yes! Test my Innate Soul Power! Hurry!" he shouted at the Spirit Awakener.
The Spirit Awakener nodded and brought the Crystal Ball before him. "Young master, please."
Yu Xiaogang pressed his hand against it, his heart pounding. An almost imperceptible glimmer appeared inside.
Everyone froze again.
Seconds ticked by. Then Yu Xiaogang hurled the Crystal Ball to the floor, shattering it. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" he roared. "That Crystal Ball must be broken! It has to be!"
Yu Yuanzhen's face darkened. "Get Xiao Gang another Crystal Ball," he told the Spirit Awakener.
"Yes!" The Spirit Awakener produced another Crystal Ball.
Yu Xiaogang pressed his hand to it at once. Again, only an almost imperceptible glimmer appeared.
Another Crystal Ball shattered on the floor. "Get another one!" Yu Xiaogang roared.
When the third Crystal Ball gave the same result, Yu Xiaogang raised it to smash it too, but Yu Luomian barked, "Yu Xiaogang! Whether you accept it or not, your Martial Soul has mutated into a Waste Spirit. Destroying sect property won't change that!"
Yu Yuanzhen covered his face with one hand and gestured to the Spirit Awakener with the other. "Announce the result," he said painfully.
The Spirit Awakener nodded. "Innate Soul Power..." He pulled a magnifying glass from his sleeve and studied the Crystal Ball for a long while. "Zero point... 0.5. Yes, Innate Soul Power level 0.5, Sect Leader."
Whispers spread through the hall.
"What? His Innate Soul Power is only level 0.5?"
"What kind of Martial Soul is that? It looks like a dog, but it isn't one. It looks like a pig, but it isn't one either. A Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon can mutate into that?"
As more people joined in, the whispers grew bolder:
"Our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragons can mutate into that thing? No way. But Yu Xiaogang really is the sect leader's son, so could it be...?"
"The sect leader's bloodline is so strong that even Yu Xiaomen, his son with the maid Yun Niang, has level 9.5 Innate Soul Power. Yu Xiaogang only has level 0.5. Doesn't that tell you something?"
"Level 0.5? Come on. The Spirit Awakener was just being tactful."
"I refuse to believe our mighty Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon could awaken as something worse than a pig or a dog."
"And to think I spent six years flattering Yu Xiaogang!"
Each sneer reached Yu Xiaogang's ears like a steel needle piercing his heart. In agony, he suddenly looked up at Yu Xiaomen.
Yu Xiaomen said nothing. He was looking right back at him, an unreadable expression on his face.
He's mocking me. That bastard is mocking me!
Yu Xiaogang could endure the mockery of everyone else in the clan, but not his—the bastard son of a lowly servant. Why? Why did he get a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul and level 9.5 Innate Soul Power, while I got only level 0.5 Soul Power and awakened this thing that's worse than a pig or a dog?
Yu Xiaogang broke down completely—
"Aaaaaah—"
Yu Xiaogang wept and screamed, overwhelmed by grief and fury. Three cries from an ape would have brought tears to anyone's eyes. And then—
He ran away.